https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/why-the-covid-vaccines-arent-dangerous Skip to main content The New Yorker * Newsletter To revisit this article, select My Account, then Close Alert Sign In Search * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Puzzles & Games * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On * Shop Open Navigation Menu To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories Close Alert The New Yorker The Coronavirus Crisis * Latest Coverage * How Will the Virus Evolve? * The COVID Midlife Crisis * The Struggle Against Vaccine Reluctance * The Economic Impact Medical Dispatch Why the COVID Vaccines Aren't Dangerous Many vaccine-hesitant people worry about adverse health effects. They shouldn't. By Clayton Dalton August 25, 2021 * * * * * Save this story for later. A nurse wearing a mask prepares a vaccine dose from a vial. What vaccine skeptics are missing is a proper context in which to understand the very low risks of the vaccines--as well as how risk fits into medicine in general.Photograph by Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / Getty * * * * * Save this story for later. As the Delta variant gains momentum around the country, I'm seeing more and more unvaccinated patients in my E.R. I often ask them why, after the devastation we've seen this year, they've chosen not to get vaccinated. Sometimes their answers are weird or conspiratorial. But most people say that they're concerned about something real: adverse effects. They've heard about blood clots in women, or about myocarditis in young men, and the prospect of developing one of these frightening conditions has kept them away from the vaccination clinic. Recently, I spoke to two members of my extended family who hadn't yet been vaccinated. They, too, cited adverse effects. They're definitely not alone: a Census Bureau poll, conducted in late June and early July, found that a majority of unvaccinated respondents have avoided the vaccine because they are concerned about the risks. Read The New Yorker's complete news coverage and analysis of the coronavirus pandemic. I can understand their reticence; blood clots and inflamed hearts make me nervous, too. What they're missing, however, is a proper context in which to understand the risks of the vaccines--as well as a sense of how risk fits into medicine more generally. Nearly everything that doctors do carries risk. Surgeries can go awry. Diagnostic tests can yield false positives, exposing patients to more invasive tests or procedures. Medications and vaccines are no exception. Some 1.3 million emergency department visits are attributed to adverse drug effects each year, and studies have estimated that nearly seven per cent of hospitalized patients suffer some form of adverse drug reaction, with a fatality rate of 0.3 per cent. These numbers, extrapolated across the country's population, suggest that more than two million adverse drug reactions probably occur in U.S. hospitals each year, potentially resulting in more than a hundred thousand deaths. If that's true, then adverse drug effects are the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States--ahead of diabetes, pneumonia, and car accidents. Clayton Dalton is an emergency physician. He lives and works in New Mexico. More:CoronavirusCoronavirus Treatment and TestingPandemicsPublic HealthVaccination The Daily Sign up for our daily newsletter and get the best of The New Yorker in your in-box. Enter your e-mail address [ ] Sign up By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The New Yorker Sections * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Crossword * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On More * Customer Care * Shop The New Yorker * Buy Covers and Cartoons * Conde Nast Store * Digital Access * Newsletters * Jigsaw Puzzle * RSS * Site Map * About * Careers * Contact * F.A.Q. * Media Kit * Press * Accessibility Help * Conde Nast Spotlight (c) 2021 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices * * * * * Do Not Sell My Personal Info